“You’re in more danger, technically. Cyn sent over the notes and pictures you keep getting. After Mills found the microphone in your house? Chase, you have an increasingly aggressive, delusional stalker, and you’re worried about pictures they sell online?”
He’s right, my priorities are way off. I can’t lock Ren away in a tower. I’m not that monster. I’ve struggled to get past that, and I need to accept Ren would fight before she ends up like Cassie. Bringing her to my house solves one problem and ignores a hundred more.
“What do I do?”
“Again, start small. Are you giving Ren the space she needs?”
“Yeah, I’m trying to. There’s been a few times that I interrupted her a little, but I backed off.” He stares at me, accusations in his eyes. “Yeah, okay, I get in her way a lot.”
“How about designating a space that’s only hers? You’re not allowed to bother her when she’s in there.” I argue, but he holds up a hand. “It doesn’t need a door, but you will need to adhere to the boundaries she sets. Where do you work when you’re at home?”
“The loft. Sometimes the garage. I work out and do my lines.”
“And where does she work?”
“The dining room table,” I groan. “Shit, okay. I get it.”
The more I talk to Theo, the more I’m letting go of the death grip I had on the idea that Ren would follow the same path as Cassie. She doesn’t have the same history, the same jaded perception of the world. She’s different, even in how she treats me, so why am I not treating her differently?
The crushing weight lifts off my chest as that realization sets in. It’s not the perfect solution that I wanted, but it’s what I needed in order to help myself get through this again. Because it won’t beagain, this will be different, even if the villains stay the same.
“Thanks, Doc,” I say as I rise from the chair as our session ends. “I needed this. I needed that kick in the ass.”
“I’m always here to kick you in the ass when you’re down, Chase.” He picks up his glasses, wiping them on a cloth from his pocket. “So, circling back?”
“Mills hit a brick wall on the name we found. She avoided all the security cameras on the set, and no one has footage of her from the convention a few years back.” I wring my hands as I talk, feeling the stress come back. “I block her numbers, but she still calls.”
“Take that seriously and trust Mills. He’s worked on a couple of stalker cases for other celebrities. It’s a cry for help, and I don’t like the way it’s escalating. Have you told Ren about it?”
“Some.”
“Time to tell her everything. For both the stalker and Cassie. Now keep moving forward and stop being the warden.”
As we’re walking out, something on his desk catches my eye. I recognize the CD cover art from Dani’s band. “Interesting music choice.”
“Oh, yeah, I got that at a local Battle of the Bands a friend conned me into judging.”
“Yeah?” He’s hiding something. That’s the fun part of therapy. He’s getting to know me, but I’m also learning about him along the way. “Well, I’m close with the lead singer if you want to get it autographed or something.”
“Came autographed, but thanks. They were pretty good.” I could swear he’s blushing.
On the drive home, I’m feeling better. I consider going back to the studio to get some work done, but I need to take the rest of the day to get my head straight. I owe it to Ren and myself to fix this. Sometimes I’m excellent at picking up a concept, understanding it, and tossing it right out the window a few minutes later to slide back into old, comfortable habits.
As I maneuver the streets of Culver City, I work on a plan to help make this stick. I’m going to keep to new things today as much as I can to stop myself from drifting off into the past. I’ve even thought up a new recipe she’ll love. But I change my mind because that’s not enough. Theo tells me to start small, but that might be too small. I’ll ask her to leave the prison, go out to dinner. Look at some new walls for a few hours together at least. Maybe even tell her why I’ve been such a prick and open another window into who I am.
CHAPTER28
BLACK BIRD
EVAN RACHEL WOOD
At first,I enjoyed staying with Chase again. The security system and high wall remind me I’m safe, while offering privacy, and I missed coming home to a pool, hot tub, and him every night. But things have become more than just rocky between us.
The day before Chase’s flight, we took Lulu to the dog park to play with one of her puppies, the one owned by Jamie and Lexi. We stayed toward the back of the park, keeping to ourselves and letting the dogs play. A fan recognized Chase and he let her take a picture of him with her dog. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her. Not long after the fan left, Lexi spotted a paparazzi standing on the roof of his car taking pictures of us. It didn’t bother me since I’d expected as much to happen, but it set something off in Chase and he hasn’t been the same since. He backed out of the project in Atlanta—or that’s what Dani told me. Chase told me they no longer needed him for the reshoots, blaming it on funding.
Now I don’t know who to believe—my boyfriend or the gossip bloggers my sister reads.
He talked to his therapist, and when he came back, he again promised he’d let me do my work and wouldn’t bother me. He spent half a day in the loft with Devin, moving furniture and painting the walls. He created a space just for me and even made a little reading nook so I could grade my papers while overlooking the pool. Things began moving in the right direction again.
